Extent and sufficiency of STD/HIV disease intervention specialists in the United States of America, 2016
Jami S. Leichliter
A C , Dan Lentine A and Gretchen Weiss B
A Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States of America.
B HIV, STI, & Viral Hepatitis Program, National Association of County and City Health Officials, Washington, District of Columbia 20005, United States of America.
C Corresponding author. Email: jleichliter@cdc.gov
Sexual Health 18(3) 280-282 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH20222
Submitted: 12 December 2020 Accepted: 26 March 2021 Published: 12 May 2021
Abstract
Disease intervention specialists (DIS) conduct partner notification for STD and HIV to interrupt the transmission of STD/HIV. In 2016, we collected information from health departments in the United States of America to determine the number of DIS and whether this number was sufficient for STD/HIV prevention. We identified 1610 STD/HIV DIS positions in the USA and 379 DIS supervisory positions. Of DIS positions, 85% were filled indicating potential issues with turnover. Using nationally reportable data from 2016, we found that states with more primary and secondary syphilis cases had more DIS. DIS participated in public health emergencies in 57% of states. Most USA states indicated that the DIS workforce was not sufficient for STD/HIV prevention. Knowledge of information about DIS workload (e.g. number of STD/HIV cases assigned per DIS) would be helpful.
Keywords: partner services, public health emergency, primary and secondary syphilis, disease intervention specialists, disease intervention efficiency, sexually transmitted disease prevention, STD, HIV.
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